Well here we are in August and things haven’t slowed down a bit for me. And above is the latest pic of my Hamshack with the new Kenwood TS-2000. Lots of projects continue, including the Denver HD project. We (along with help from contractors Shane Toven KØSDT and Greg Beveridge WB7AHO got the Harris transmitter at KRKA working well now with a new blower fan and a repaired Digit exciter that was having a problem with a whine in the audio. Harris had put out a service bulletin a while back about this particular issue. Yep, replacing a bunch of dried out electrolytics did the trick. With the MCI antenna switch and the “homebrew” controller made by Greg this site is now really ready for winter and visits by anyone who wants to see a really nice setup!
I am working on setting up a LinuxMint 17 APRS I-Gate that we will deploy out at Sterling CO hopefully in the next few weeks. There is really NO APRS coverage out there at all, and I am learning (somewhat painfully) that Linux, while really a great operating system, definitely isn’t point and click all the time. There are a lot of operating commands that must be entered from a terminal window to get things going, serial ports talking, etc. I really want to thank Art, KI4GYZ and Richard, NØEB for their help and teaching me how to make it work. I am running a machine at home as seen in this screen shot designated KEØVH, and the one that I will set up at Sterling will be KEØVH-10. I hope the coverage in NE CO will facilitate APRS needs of the high altitude balloon flights for the Colorado Edge Of Space Sciences group (www.eoss.org) and for other APRS users on that NE corridor of Interstate 76.
YAAC software showing the location of KEØVH in the Denver area
I am using the YAAC (Yet Another APRS Client) software in this picture from my home in Wheat Ridge as a test setup to learn the software before I deploy another computer for Sterling. The software is free and written and supported by KA2DDO. Check out the website at: http://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html
Here is the really cool NØEB APRS I-Gate and Digi operated by my friend Rich, NØEB in Thornton CO
I continue to catch ham radio use in movies and television lately. Here is a shot from the series “The Flash” that I saw as I was watching an episode recently on the DVD’s that I received last Christmas.
I am not really sure as to the identities of these particular radios. Probably a Yaesu and an Icom. That is definitely a power supply on top. Couldn’t really get enough resolution here though to see if it is actually powering the radios though. Any ideas on what they are? Email me at jack@ke0vh.com!
I have met another new ham buddy thru the use of APRS by the way. Gary, AAØRX up in the Fort Collins area happened to spot my APRS beacon on day and since part of my message says to text my phone number for a frequency (KEØVH-2) he did so, we got together on 146.52 simplex, and had a great chat one day while I was on my way to Buckhorn Mountain NW of Fort Collins. Gary operates a lot of digital modes, D-Star, DMR and has several Raspberry Pi’s around his home doing various functions and a lot of really cool stuff. I must admit that I was somewhat (read that A LOT!) amazed at what he can do with his various setups and digital connections to around the world! Plus, he has really just about every frequency and mode you can think of pertaining to amateur radio. His shack is EXTREMELY well equipped with several Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu radios.
Gary AAØRX, NICE Shack!
Finally, 91.1 KLDV is ON THE AIR with the new Nautel GV-40 transmitter and operating HD here in Denver! We have our Air1 channel on the HD2, and it will soon be feeding the 88.9 translator too that fills in nicely the area not covered by our 103.9 signal out of Ft. Collins. This has been a large project with a lot of help from some really great engineers and tower guys. I am on a learning curve with this of course but am really enjoying how incredible the GV-40 is already. Plus, it sounds great to have that HD kick in when tuning in 91.1. Thanks to all who have helped with this project. Now I can relax…………… A bit anyway!
The New American Amplifier Technologies 40 kW Bandpass Filter
Some of the new “plumbing” in place at KLDV, and Mike Cooper (not a ham, but working on him!) fitting feedline to the Nautel
Yours truly KEØVH cutting inner conductor, and later, Dan and TJ from Galvanized Endeavors on the tower for fine matching adjustments
WOW! Look at that curve! Doesn’t get much better, and Steve Wilde (KI6FAO), our transmitter and antenna “whisperer” Jedi Master from Rocklin. He did a great job bringing all into proper operation!
A bit fuzzy pic, but there it is! Full POWER TPO!
AND what it looks like at home on the RTL SDR receiver, with the MPX Spectrum below allowing the analog L+R, L-R, Pilot and RDS signals to be seen!
You know I gotta say I work for the BEST Company I can imagine. Again, thanks to all who made the HD possible in Denver. When I had cancer earlier this year, I had times that I didn’t think I might get to see this much less oversee the project. I work for amazing people and with a great team for sure.
See a great article on EMF/K-LOVE/Air1 and how we operate here:
Don’t forget the Monday Night Broadcast Engineering
IRLP (and Echolink) Hamnet, every MONDAY EVENING
At 7pm Mountain time (9pm Eastern) for radio discussions, both
Broadcast engineering and amateur radio. The first and
3rd Mondays are also SBE NET nights. Details on how to
Join are at http://www.ke0vh.com/net/net.html. I hope
You will be able to join us and share your engineering and
Ham exploits!
73’ & God be with you. See you next time! De KEØVH